Page 81 of Angelic Vengeance

My hand circled the steering wheel as I took a right out of the garage. It was about ten at night, but Midtown Manhattan was still bustling with tourists and nightlife, clueless to whatreallywent on in New York.

“You catch the Yankees game yesterday, Boss?” Joaquín asked from the back.

“No,” I replied distractedly. I’d been too busy thinking about a green-eyed brunette to be able to do anything else. “What was the score?”

“Don’t know, Boss. Didn’t see it.”

“Piensa antes de hablar,cabrón.” Sebastián fired the warning from the passenger seat. “Yankees won 31 to 27, Boss.”

I hummed in response, not bothering to intervene as they kept going back and forth. Guess that was what happened when you had brothers working together. Joaquín was eighteen, two years younger than his brother. Sebastián had already been working for me for a while, but I was still making them tag along with me for certain things.

They were waiting for me at Renato before I even arrived. I’d made them aware someone was getting clipped tonight. Guess that someone was no longer Maria, but some pathetic drunk.

‘The girl you just fucked with…’Smacking his shoulder,I shook him slightly before squeezing a weak spot in his trapezium muscle. He winced,twisting into his side.‘Wrong girl,man.’

I looked over my shoulder and signaled for my personnel to come over. Two large men rose from their different booths in the club,standing to their full height. I began making my way to the exit,letting them handle the labor. The man was too drunk to fight off the six-foot-two hulks carrying him out behind me.

They wouldn’t ask questions; wouldn’t dare to. My soldiers were loyal, but no one questioned me; ever.

I reached into my suit pocket for my phone, but instead touched metal. Glancing down, I found what I knew I would: the gold bracelet Maria was wearing earlier.

The clasp was broken, hence how it ended up on the floor and now, in my pocket. I’d seen it before leaving the bar, and I couldn’t stop myself. Maybe I really was a psychopath, if I was now collecting souvenirs from my victims. Instead, I told myself it was a good excuse to talk to her again.

“But did you see the ass on that bartender?” Joaquín’s words pulled me back in.

Sebastián shook his head slightly, wiping his hand over his mouth to erase a smirk. “She’s too uptight for me.”

“I know just how to loosen her up…”

“Keep talking like that, it’ll be you in the fucking trunk.” My voice silenced the car as I shot a look at him through the rear-view mirror, my jaw locked with tension.

Joaquín put his hands up in surrender. “Sorry, Boss. Didn’t know she was yours.”

“She’s not–” I shook my head. “Shut the fuck up.”

Sebastián looked over his shoulder, at his younger brother, his words low. “Piensa antes de hablar.”

“Same goes for you,tonto. I saw your lip twitching.”

He cleared his throat. “Won’t happen again, Boss.”

The slow traffic came to a full stop. I looked out the window to pass the time; nothing but headlights, streets busy with nightlife, gleam reflecting off tall buildings and traffic stops. The sun went down, but the city never slept.

I turned my head as the guys started talking about the Yankees again, but my eyes caught across the street. A familiar figure walked by before disappearing behind some cars. I leaned forward, catching one more glimpse before the figure disappeared again. We were in the fifth lane, other cars all around us, taking out my view of the sidewalk.

I checked the side mirror for cyclists and opened my door. “There’s something I need to take care of. Sebastián, you’re driving.”

“What about the shipment?”

The question stopped me with one foot out the car.Shit.I’d forgotten about the import coming in from Brazil. I’d been on edge because of her, and it was starting to fuck with my business.

“Call Matteo. Get it done.”

He’d give me shit for putting this on him last minute, but he was the only one who could handle a job this big.

Their words muffled as I shut the car door.

Walking between the unmoving traffic, I stepped onto the busy sidewalk. Heading in the same direction as Maria, I caught sight of her just as she turned a corner. She was supposed to stay at Renato so I could see her later, not end her shift early. She justhadto overcomplicate everything;hadto throw my plans in my face.